


Hamstrung

by Towelhun (momhuey)



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: At first sight, Building EXO, Gams, Gen, Just not fair, M/M, So damn proud of those guys
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-09
Updated: 2015-03-09
Packaged: 2018-03-17 01:37:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,199
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3510326
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/momhuey/pseuds/Towelhun
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>TaoHun if you squint.  I've caught a few clips of Exoluxion and I am just so very proud of Tao and all the members.  I've never seen celebrities so devoted to the fans.  They truly give and I want to convey some of my feelings to the 5 people who stumble across EXO on AO3.</p><p>I very seldom write drabbles, but here it is anyway.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hamstrung

After finally being tapped to debut with a group, Sehun learned a few things about the creation of EXO. He had thought it was a KPop group. He was only partially right.

He learned that EXO was a business plan. A business plan based on a formula. It was filing cabinets full of manila folders and terabytes of video and audio samples. It was PowerPoint Presentations and spreadsheets full of complicated calculations pertaining to market statistics and budgets. Project managers lead teams of accountants, sales people, market analysts, marketing experts, psychologists, language specialists, media distribution representatives, talent scouts and management firms. Videoconferences and Webex meetings connected Korea and China almost around the clock.

The actual product? EXO. It would be many things to many people.

There was obviously the music which was very important, but the singing and the dancing were the easy parts; SM’s hallways were packed with both. Not to say SM didn’t invest in the best music and choreography they could get because they certainly did.

In the end though, it was the individual members who would make EXO successful. Project management knew of this thing called a ‘bias’ and its incredible power. It increased EXO’s fan base exponentially; instead of one product, they had at 13. Those project managers also knew of this thing called a “ship” which could conceivably add another 66 romantic or platonic products. Even fans who didn’t specifically follow EXO would buy concert tickets and digital downloads in order to hear the three lines sung by D.O. or Suho. They might not pay money for music but they’d fork out cash for Sehun slippers and flood the Nike website with orders for the same snap back Kris wore at the airport.

But good looking young men wouldn’t cut it. They needed other characteristics to increase their appeal. They needed to be wholesome and respectful and polite. They also needed to be family with family roles; loving, supportive, tolerant and protective. They needed to be genuine and sincere. They needed…an indefinable something.

Sehun also learned that the mix of the members’ different characteristics was no accident. There was ditzy, 4-D, sexy, mischievous, stoic, shy, serious, moody, etc. There was a member to appeal to nearly every fan.   At one point Sehun had been asked what he thought his role was. When he said dancer, they said that was his EXO role. For the fans of Sehun, he was the baby. The little brother.  Sehun's fans weren't as concerned with his dancing ability as they were about his favorite flavor of bubble tea.

“How do I be a little brother? Do I have to do something? Like act or something?”

“Little brothers are actually created,” Lee Soo-man said. “They are created by big brothers.”

Lee Soo-man had led them to a conference room. “Watch.”

He was led into a room where the other members of EXO-K waited. Lee Soo-man put his hand on Sehun’s shoulder and said, “This is Sehun. He is your little brother.”

It only took a moment before Sehun saw changes in their expressions. Several transformed into looks of fondness. For a second he thought Baekhyun and Chanyeol were going to get up and hug him. Sehun sensed from another couple a feeling of protectiveness.   In 30 seconds they had become family and that relationship held true to this day.

So he was brought in to observe the interview for the China line ‘little brother.’ Their relationship with each other was also going to have value.

They called for Huang Zitao and an 18 year old Chinese came into the room. His looks were average, except for his build. Sehun wasn’t ashamed to admit that he felt a stirring as his gaze got stuck on that area where hamstring met ass. Those legs were…perfect.

Sehun could instantly see that ZiTao was different from every SM trainee than he had ever seen. There wasn’t a molecule of nervousness in him. Or even doubt. There was a sense that he was here as a formality and that he was just waiting for them to take off his leash so he could rock the world.

ZiTao looked at everyone until his eyes stopped on Sehun. The smile he gave Sehun was the most genuine thing he’d seen since the last one he got from his mother. There was no shrewdness, or calculation, or suspicion; not the sizing up Sehun was used to getting from everyone else at SM. At that moment Sehun imagined he saw through Tao’s chest at his heart. It was large and unsoiled and strong. Sehun waved stupidly, awkwardly and blushed, smiling at his own shoes.

Evidently ZiTao’s build was noticed by Lee Soo-man also.

“ZiTao, do you lift weights?”

“No, sir.”

“You don’t have a typical dancer’s build. Your muscles are larger.”

Tao looked down at himself as though he’d never seen his body before.

“Oh. Well, I do lots of sports and have studied martial arts since I was a child.” He scratched the side of his nose. “My mom says I never stop.”

“Do you ever stop?”

“No sir. There’s no time for that.”

“Thank you ZiTao. We’ll be in touch.”

Sehun felt horrible; Zitao had just been shown the door without dancing a step or singing a note.   After a dozen words, he’d been dismissed. Funny thing was, though, that ZiTao was unfazed. Smiling, he bowed and left.

Without looking up from entering things into a tablet, Lee Soo-man said to him, “That’s your new brother.”

Sehun said nothing because he had no idea who his mentor was talking to. He couldn’t be talking about Zitao, so he couldn’t be talking to him. Lee Soo-man looked over.

“Me? Him?“ He pointed at the door. Lee Soo-man just looked at him. “But…what about singing…and dancing.”

Lee waived his hand. “When we gave you a role called “baby brother” we explained that EXO will not succeed as a group of singers and dancers. They are a group, but the important parts are the individuals. Fans must love you and your role.”

“So he’s a baby brother too?”

Lee Soo-man laughed. “I doubt he’ll ever be a baby brother. No, Sehun, he’ll have his own role; he’s EXO’s hunger, the fire in their belly.”

“Hunger…fire” Sehun rolled the words around in his head. “But he was only here 5 minutes. How can you tell that about him?”

“It’s those muscles you were blatantly ogling.” Sehun’s face flamed. Lee just laughed. “The only way to build those kinds of muscles without weight lifting is to run at life full tilt. To do everything, everywhere, every time as hard as you can do it. He doesn’t go out and shoot a few hoops. His entire mind, heart and body are on that court. He runs faster and jumps higher and pushes himself to every limit and beyond, all the while looking around for the next thing.” He smiled again. “He has a year before we shoot our first video.” He grinned, “I bet he’s ready in six months.”

Sehun scratched his head and glanced at his legs. You can tell all that from leg muscles?


End file.
